Many Americans have perhaps been shocked recently to learn their tax dollars have supported transgender causes and leftist initiatives worldwide through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The agency, founded during the Kennedy administration, has been a target for spending cuts as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has disclosed millions of dollars have been spent on things like a DEI musical in Ireland, a transgender opera in Colombia, a transgender comic book in Peru, and much, much more.
It would seem USAID funding for Israel, a longtime ally of the United States, would be a good thing, but Amit Halevi, a member of the Israeli Knesset, told Washington Watch Thursday that is not the case.
He detailed left-wing Israeli lawyer and political activist Mithael Sfarad's visits to the Barack Obama White House that led to America's overhanded involvement in Israeli governance.
An open records request by a U.S. family found that Sfarad visited the White House more than any other Israeli citizen or official.
The purpose was to advance progressive goals.
"The global connection between the recent U.S. governments and the extreme leftists here is not surprising to anyone in Israel," Halevi said. "These are global movements that actually have a progressive goal and are doing everything to undermine democratic regimes like in Israel in order to promote their progressive goals."
Israeli politics, much like the U.S. landscape, is fiercely divided, Halevi said, and that comes through in war decisions against Hamas.
For example, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the chief military advocate of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Gali Baharav-Miara, the attorney general of Israel, have conspired to withhold key information from Interior Minister Moshe Erbel that would allow him to revoke Israeli citizenship for known terrorists.
He additionally noted Tomer-Yerushalmi's "extreme interpretation" of international law, which has prevented the IDF from making targeted strikes against Hamas terrorists.
Schumer's infamous elections call
According to Halevi, U.S. involvement in Israel's local issues is extreme and sometimes harmful.
He mentioned former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-New York) calls for new elections in Israel in the middle of a war last March.
Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S. at the time, said in a speech on the Senate floor that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had "lost his way" and had become an obstacle to peace in the region.
Netanyahu had become too close with "far-right extremists" for Schumer's liking.
"He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows," Schumer said. "Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah."
Then-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) responded by saying Israel "deserves an ally that acts like one" and advised Schumer to "refrain from weighing in."
"Either we respect their decisions, or we disrespect their democracy," McConnell added.
Schumer's call for elections was more than empty words, Halevi said.
"They not only said this in the media, but they also made it their activity," he told show host Tony Perkins. "They put their money where their mouth was."
More than a transgender push
More specifically, Halevi said Democrats "most definitely" used USAID money to create instability within Israel.
The heavy-handed involvement in Israeli politics continued throughout Joe Biden's administration, mostly through Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"Antony Blinken – I was a witness to the cruel pressure. It was shocking," Halevi shared. "He came here more than one time and [created] cruel pressure on our vital interests."
Halevi has served as a member of the Knesset for Likud, the same party as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, since 2023. He previously held that office from 2020 to 2021.
